title: Laboratory contamination affecting orthopedic surgical management.
abstract: Bacterial contamination of pathology specimens can occur during collection, transport, or laboratory processing. Recognized sources of laboratory contamination include contamination of microscopy slides before use and contamination of reagents. We present 2 cases where contamination of glass beads used in the microbiology department as part of the tissue preparation process for urgent Gram stain led to unnecessary revision surgery. Contamination of the glass beads alone has not been cited elsewhere in the literature, and the authors feel that this needs to be brought to the attention of arthroplasty surgeons and microbiologists.
authors.affiliation: Department of trauma and Orthopaedics, Sunderland Royal Hospital, Sunderland, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dowen
authors.forename: Richard P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Jeavons
authors.forename: Yousuf
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Michla
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berrington
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Green
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D001706:Biopsy; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D019468:Disease Management; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006622:Hip Prosthesis; D006748:Hospital Departments; D006801:Humans; D008828:Microbiological Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011475:Prosthesis Failure; D012086:Reoperation
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents